The volunteers from the Magic Association were forced to retreat step by step.
The enemy's amphibious unit was plainly their main force.
The unit advancing to the north was a mixed unit of APCs and bipedal tanks though the primary force composed of APCs, but the enemy force assaulting the Magic Association branch was composed of special bipedal tanks designed for close combat along with multiple Magicians alongside.
Wild beasts that looked like dogs turned into fiery bombs. They were chemical congregations created by Ancient Magic to mimic the monster called the "Wazawaito".
Just when they thought that was all there was, a one legged crane-like bird dispersed flaming ash and vanished. They were chemical congregations also formed by Ancient Magic that imitated the form of monsters called the "Hitzukata".
Ancient Magic from the mainland swarmed the volunteers.
The enemy was no longer an army of "unknown nationality". Abandoning all pretense at hiding their identity, they were applying unique magic and bipedal tanks with enchanted defenses to crush the volunteer unit's formation.
The Magicians from the Magic Association quickly retaliated with modern magic that was swift to cast with instantaneous effect, but they simply couldn't handle the overwhelming enemy numbers.
"Damn it, retreat!"
"Fall back and reestablish a new defensive line!"
It sounded like their morale had not broken, but in the face of such force, the only ones who could say so were the ones who fell back within the new protective line.
"Do not retreat!"
At this time, a roar shattered the volunteers' cowardice.
The avian chemical congregations that spewed fire were smashed to the earth and faded into ash.
It was as if they had been swatted aside by a giant hammer.
"Arise, ye who wield magic. Protect our homeland from falling into the clutches of these wretched invaders!"
Ahead of the volunteers, a bulky figure walked before them.
It was Katsuto, fully armored in protective gear and helmet like the samurais of old.
Katsuto raised his arm and swung it forward.
Although the swing was not made with great force,
But at the same time as the swing, one of the enemy's bipedal tanks collapsed.
The implication of this action was blatantly clear in everyone's eyes.
The same thing happened once more.
The mechanized weaponry with magically fortified defenses were being destroyed like toys.
A thunderous roar sounded all around him.
That was the triumphant shout of the volunteers who were previously in an inferior position.
Katsuto hid the feelings of shame deep in the pits of his heart.
He was not childish enough to believe in absolute justice.
Nor did he only seek personal advancement like an adult.
But he was very clear on the role that fell to him.
The enemy didn't take very long to recover their wits.
They were not very clear on exactly what Katsuto did.
Still, even the dullest of their men knew that Katsuto was the one who launched the magical attacks.
The bipedal tanks leveled their weapons at Katsuto with the churning of treads. Not one, but three tanks attacked as one unit. Apparently, the enemy was nothing more than inept soldiers who could only rely on their equipment.
However, the result was that none of the three bipedal tanks could advance a single a meter, nor could they fire a single bullet.
The only thing Katsuto did was to simply reach out with his right palm.
That alone was enough to render the bipedal tanks into scrap.
Multi-Layer Barrier Magic "Phalanx".
This magic was not only used to block the enemy's attack.
Its true value lay in its ability to annihilate the enemy and it existed for this purpose.
The magic behind Phalanx lay in constructing multiple barriers, so even if the initial barrier faltered, the one behind would simply replace it, to be continued ad infinitum.
The barriers were in constant motion within set boundaries.
The barrier was not set in front of oneself, but rather dozens of barriers were sent crashing at high speeds into the enemy.
This was the true usage of Phalanx on the offensive. The offensive barrier that possessed the sole function of being impermeable to all attacks could even be spread out within another person's magic. The magic barrier that set matter as its target possessed an interference strength that simply disallowed any other magic to exist.
Although there were disadvantages in that the firing range was limited and it could only be used against existing phenomena, this magic that combined attacking the enemy, anti-object, and anti-magic properties had powerful applications at short distances in group combat.
Defensively, there were multiple barriers being erected simultaneously.
Offensively, multiple barriers with a single characteristic could be fired successively.
As befitting the name "Phalanx", this was a magic that combined offense and defense together.
Fire and thunder came crashing down on Katsuto.
Ancient Magic attacks that had to go through various procedures and could not affect the Eidos without physical phenomena changes were the easiest opponents for Katsuto.
In the air, he erected heat resistant and lightning resistant barriers to protect himself and the volunteers surrounding him.
Along with the escorting soldiers at the front, he sent the enemy Magicians flying.
The advent of a single person completely turned the battle around.
Exhausted by constantly having to deal with phantom attacks, Masaki changed his mind.
He stopped hunting for the enemy's Magicians and decided to massacre all the enemies around him.
Until now, he was afraid of dragging the average citizen into the crossfire so he had relied on magic that targeted individual enemies, but if the situation continued progressing the way it had, more and more citizens would suffer. —He was not going to deny that he was getting enraged.
Masaki set the area where the enemy was most densely congregated in three man squads as the square shaped execution site.
Each side measured 15 meters. Just in case, he kept a 2 meter buffer zone (until now, there was no sign that the enemy forcibly entered the nearby buildings).
He operated the CAD on his left wrist and activated the magic.
Unrelated to physical obstacles, this was a power that devoured cover in order to alter the phenomena.
The initial change was gradual.
The enemy soldiers would only feel a slight increase in body heat.
However, this would quickly turn into burning hot pain that led the victim to roll around on the floor. Thirty seconds later, their eyes would turn murky and they would be rendered a corpse.
This was Heat Magic that relied on the oscillation of fluid molecules, "Kyokan Jigoku".
The Magicians of the Ichijou Family specialized in Dispersal-Type Magic that evaporated fluids, but that certainly did not imply they could not use any other magic.
With apologies to his friend, Masaki actually suspected the veracity of the "Cardinal Code Hypothesis". If the Four Great Systems and Eight Major Types of Magic were flawlessly interconnected, then weren't they by nature the same entity? This was his gut speaking and not a logical theory. He felt that using systems to categorize magic was simply a matter of convenience.
Currently, the magic that Masaki was using, "Kyokan Jigoku", could be described as an inferior version of "Rupture".
Compared to "Rupture" that could instantaneously evaporate fluids, "Kyokan Jigoku" required time (nothing more than 30 seconds to a full minute) to increase fluid temperature. By paying the price in sheer firepower, this magic expanded the range from "target object" to "a wide area".
Within the summoned cauldron of hell — needless to say, this was a metaphor — rapid destabilization spread throughout the square shaped area.
"Kyokan Jigoku" was a magic that directly affected the human body within the targeted area. Thus, it was very difficult to affect Magicians who applied Data Fortification to themselves.
On the other hand, that also meant that Magicians were the only ones who could survive the execution site.
(Found you!)
There were many enemies, but Masaki's instincts told him that this Magician was the one who was responsible for the illusion magic.
He charged out from behind the building and sprinted into the "execution site" that was suddenly wide open.
The guns pointed in his direction were silenced by allied covering fire.
Once more, he raised the handgun-shaped Specialized CAD at the Magician who attempted to flee.
He pulled the trigger before the other man had a chance to turn around.
A crimson flower blossomed.
Masaki eliminated the enemy Magician before he even had time to surrender.
Small thunderbolts danced wildly across the street as the enemy gunfire came to an end.
Miyuki's company still encountered sporadic resistance from the enemy, but they no longer saw any bipedal tanks or APCs coming to reinforce the enemy.
After Mikihiko's lightning magic rendered the enemy infantry impotent, the five of them gathered under the cover of one of the large buildings.
"Saegusa-senpai appears to be coming by helicopter to pick us up. Unlike the ones used for the civilians, this helicopter is specifically reserved for our evacuation."
Receiving Mayumi's communique, Miyuki relayed the details to everyone else.
"As expected of Saegusa, how generous."
Erika was moved in a rather odd direction.
"I think this has nothing to do with generosity... It must be so that the upperclassmen can safely escape."
"Even so, that's something worthy of thanks."
"Indeed. Thanks to that, we also have a chance to evacuate."
Mikihiko, Leo, and Mizuki were only able to chat so leisurely because the enemy attacks had gone silent.
"Ah, is that them?"
Even without Erika pointing this out, the distinctive sound of a propeller could be heard. Originally, they picked a location that wouldn't take very long to walk back from. Besides the time spent lifting off and setting down, this was a negligible distance for a helicopter. Yet after a few moments passed, the helicopter still hadn't arrived. Plainly, the noise was traveling down from above, but there was no sign of the helicopter.
Miyuki received a ping indicating that a new message had arrived, so she moved the transmission receiver to her ear.
"Miyuki? I'm sorry, but the area is too narrow to land. We'll let down the ropes for you, so can you grab hold of them?"
Before she could respond, five ropes came trailing down from nowhere above them.
Upon closer inspection, the highest point of the rope showed a heat signature that was hovering back and forth.
"...Invisibility, no, more like optical camouflage. Nicely done, Honoka."
Murmuring to herself, Miyuki grabbed hold of the rope and put one foot through the step at the bottom end.
The other four hurriedly followed suit.
After boarding the helicopter, everyone else save for Miyuki, who already knew about it from earlier, finally became aware of what Honoka was doing.
Honoka was projecting images of the sky using a hemispherical display and was so intensely focused that she could not even spare energy to speak. If this wasn't the sky and was a more dynamically changing scenery, there was definitely no way she could keep up the optical camouflage while moving.
"Even so, this magic can also be used when setting ambushes."
"Seriously, trying to maintain such a complicated process isn't something that can be done with a little imitation here and there."
"Even Miyuki can't do it?"
She could only do her best to ignore her friends' conversing voices.
"We're almost there, but if you feel tired, it's OK to disengage it as well."
"I'm fine."
It was all Honoka could do to muster a response to Mayumi's encouragement.
However, when the time came to extract Mari's group, the situation could not proceed as planned.
Perhaps it was more accurate to say that the enemy was engaged in their last desperate struggle. Watching the scene develop from on high, Mayumi and the others could see that the center of the battle had moved to the area surrounding China Street and the enemies in the immediate area had almost been entirely eradicated.
Nevertheless, Mari's squad of 5 was still under furious attacks that primarily came from rifles and grenade launchers from infantry units that had Magicians mixed in. Not knowing that Toshikazu was holding off all the attacks from the rear by himself, Mayumi and company did not waver because of their limited numbers and immediately provided cover for the five people below.
Correction, "Mayumi and company" would be the wrong term, since Mayumi was the only one who unleashed supporting magic from the helicopter.
Hail descended on the enemy soldiers.
Rather than small grains of ice, dry ice pellets rained down at supersonic speed to penetrate armor, a phenomenon utterly impossible in nature.
This was the "Magic Shooter" using dry ice as bullets.
The crossfire from the bullets came from all sorts of different angles to strike the enemy soldiers' head, back, and flanks. They were struck down without even knowing where the magic came from.
Using air to ground fire and aided by the advantage that the attacks came from unknown directions, Mayumi's magic pacified the scene in less than 5 minutes.
"Sorry for the wait, Mari. We're letting down the rope, so grab ahold."
"Ah, thanks."
The overwhelming firepower — she wasn't sure if this was the right way to put it — that Mayumi provided easily suppressed the enemy forces, which irked Mari somewhat as she called for the Year 2 students.
Isori and Kanon, Kirihara and Sayaka ran forward in pairs.
They forgot to be wary of their surroundings, but this was a hard charge to lay at their door.
Up until now, they were knee deep in the maelstrom of battle.
Also, the helicopter overhead had disengaged its optical camouflage, providing a lulling sense of security.
Except, the true value of guerrillas was shown here when conducting surprise attacks.
"Watch out!"
The shout came from Mari.
The first to hear this and move was Kirihara.
Sprinting towards Sayaka, he whirled his blade.
Although the frantically activated Sonic Blade miraculously deflected the bullets aimed at the chest, that only protected his torso.
His leg was struck by bullets.
The right leg beneath the thigh was in tatters.
"Kirihara-kun!"
"Kei!"
On the other side, Isori pushed Kanon down and covered her with his body.
Fresh blood flowed down his back.
The wound was caused by grenade shrapnel — it looked to be a fatal injury.
"Kei! Kei!"
"Kirihara-kun! Hang in there!"
Two girls were sobbing.
Mari unleashed magic against the irregulars who launched the surprise attack.
However, her magic was drowned in the overpowering interference strength that covered the scene and fizzled.
She frantically looked to the side — and her gaze fell upon the source.
There, leaping down from the helicopter was Miyuki, landing lightly on the earth as if entirely free from the bounds of gravity. Fearlessly, she raised her right hand.
Miyuki had lost her temper.
For her, Isori and Kirihara were nothing more than acquaintances.
Yet, using despicable means to hurt people she knew was enough to ignite the furnace of wrath within her.
Despite her rage, her brain remained calm as usual.
Even if she jumped down on reflex, she had a perfect grasp on the gravity that pulled her down.
There was no need to use a CAD.
Now, with her magic territory released, the only thing she needed to consider was how to construct her favorite unique magic.
Miyuki wasn't just sealing Tatsuya's power.
In order to seal Tatsuya's power, Miyuki spent half of her own magic on her brother.
The fact that Miyuki's magic went out of control was a side effect of suppressing her brother's magic.
Now, with Tatsuya's might unleashed, Miyuki's personal power was also released.
The Yotsuba Family did not have a signature appellation.
That was because each individual possessed a unique ability that could not be categorized, though no one deviated from the principle that "magic is inherited".
Miyuki's mother possessed the unique External Systematic Magic that could interfere with another person's mental makeup.
Thus, it would be no surprise if her daughter inherited some sort of mental interference magic.
Also, she was able to serve as Tatsuya's limiter precisely because she possessed mental interference magic.
Indeed — her Freezing Magic, which originally derives from it, is the manifestation of her innate magic interfering with the physical world.
She stretched her right hand out.
By this action alone, the world froze.
It was as if the world centered around Miyuki had frozen solid.
The surface of the road and the walls were not covered in frost.
What was frozen was the world of the consciousness.
There was no change from Mari, Kanon, Sayaka, as well as the critically injured Kirihara and Isori when they brushed against that wall.
However, the enemy soldiers who were pointing guns or getting ready to throw grenades, regardless of whether they were regular troops or guerrillas, all stood there stiffly without moving a muscle.
They weren't frozen, merely halted in place.
Rather than their physical bodies freezing, their minds were frozen.
External Systematic·Mental Interference Magic "Cocytus".
The frozen mind shall never awaken.
The frozen mind cannot comprehend death. There was no way to even inform the flesh that death was upon them.
The bodies bound by their frozen minds could not even die. They could only collapse like a row of statues, forever captured in the postures before the frost came.
No one could explain what Miyuki did.
But all beheld the image of the frozen world.
Everyone's instincts informed them that Miyuki did something.
Even without words, they could feel that mind-crushing terror.
Miyuki turned to one side before gazing skyward and drooping her head once more with traces of a lonely smile lingering on her face.
However, she immediately raised her head and cried out while waving her hands.
"Onii-sama!"
Directly in front of her eyes, everyone besides Isori and Kirihara could see this.
There, the figure of a soldier in pitch black descended to ground level.
He landed near Miyuki and removed the protective visor and goggles.
Tatsuya ran to Isori's side with a grim expression on his countenance.
"Onii-sama, please!"
By his side, Miyuki grabbed hold of Tatsuya's right hand.
Tatsuya nodded and pulled out the CAD on the left side of his waist.
"What are you doing!?"
And pointed the silver CAD at Isori.
There was no time to stop him.
The only thing Kanon could do was scream at him.
He pulled the trigger.
On reflex, Kanon closed her eyes.
[Commence Retroactive Eidos Tracking]
Tatsuya's expression did not change.
[......Confirm Restoration Point]
The time required for this magic was overly minuscule.
Yet during this instant, Miyuki knew that her brother was suffering unimaginable pain. Miyuki's eyes deftly caught the trickle of sweat running down Tatsuya's face.
Unconsciously, Miyuki averted her gaze.
Nevertheless, in the eyes of the biological machine casting magic that Tatsuya embodied, no trace of extraneous information was reflected.
[Restoration Commence]
The other magic that Tatsuya could freely wield, "Regrowth", activated.
He backtracked through the changes in the Eidos and obtained the one an instant before any injuries occurred and then copied that.
He copied that information onto the Magic Sequence and applied it to the Eidos.
Events were accompanied by information,
And information can alter the event.
In accordance with the basic rules of magic, the injured flesh began to change.
It was regenerating back towards its uninjured state.
Rather than healing the injury, the truth called injury was being erased.
The restorative power of the world was cooperating with the changes being cast on Isori's flesh.
The shrapnel was "devoured" by Isori's body.
The fragments in Isori's body disappeared.
Rather than being decomposed, they somehow fell by his side.
Isori's body seemed to glow with light.
In the next instant, there wasn't even a trace of a wound on his body.
Not only that, even the bloodstains on his clothes were fading.
[Restoration complete]
In a state unharmed by any shrapnel, Isori's flesh and body stabilized within the world.
Tatsuya didn't even have time to confirm the results of "Regrowth" on Isori before turning to Kirihara and pulling the trigger on his CAD again.
Visually speaking, this was even more dramatic.
Seeing the shredded leg and thigh reconnect, Kirihara's body also began to glow.
Next, a hale young man with all four limbs was lying there.
Tatsuya returned the CAD to his left waist and wordlessly embraced Miyuki.
"Ah...!"
Both of his arms encircling the wide-eyed Miyuki, Tatsuya softly whispered something in her ear before releasing her.
Stepping back, he put on the protective visor and pulled down the goggles.
Returning to a completely black form, Tatsuya thumbed the power switch on his belt and returned to the skies.
Miyuki could only blankly follow him with her eyes.
Her brother's words "Well done" continued to reverberate in her ears.
Wearing a skeptical expression, Isori started examining his own body.
Utterly astounded as she watched her lover's body, Kanon suddenly burst into tears and threw her arms around Isori.
On the other side, Kirihara tilted his head slightly as he repeatedly alternated between hopping on one foot and standing on one foot with Sayaka smiling through her tears as she watched him.
Miyuki turned her head when she heard the light footsteps behind her. Behind her stood Erika, who also leaped down from the helicopter and was still carrying the odachi that was taller than she was.
"Nice work. That magic was incredible."
Seeing Erika strike up a conversation just as usual, Miyuki let out a reserved smile in response. —A smile that smacked of some sort of fear.
"...Before Onii-sama, even Thanatos must bow. But that magic..."
"Hm? No, I know Tatsuya's magic was amazing too, but I was talking about Miyuki's magic. As expected of Miyuki, magic that only targets and strikes at enemies is simply awesome."
Erika's expression was not an act, nor was it forced in any way.
She was simply praising Miyuki's outstanding ability.
There was no sign of horror.
So,
"—Thank you."
Miyuki also replied with a typical, natural response.
After being repulsed from the northern face of one of the hills near the Magic Association side branch, the invading forces looped back to launch their last assault from the south.
They had completely abandoned any idea of taking hostages.
Currently, they did not possess the troops to occupy the area for any duration of time.
At the current rate, the only thing they could do was retreat empty-handed. At the very least, the invasion force decided that they needed to seize the documents related to modern magic stored at the Magic Association side branch and kill as many Magicians as possible to decrease this country's available firepower.
Grasping the appropriate time to retreat was extremely difficult.
Retreating was difficult enough after winning an advantage, but without any clear signs of imminent defeat, they couldn't simply abandon the field without anything to show for themselves.
They would blunt the enemy attack then counterattack as they were retreating.
This tactic firmly placed all the momentum on their side, the CO of the maneuvering unit believed, hence morale remained high.
The mobile force that only consisted of APCs and bipedal tanks had yet to encounter the enemy.
This operation was devised under the assumption that the defending forces lacked mobility. The CO riding in the APC believed this assessment to be correct.
Exactly at that moment.
The soldier on guard who poked half his body out of the rear of the APC raised his head when he noticed black shadows flying overhead.
However, this soldier was unable to discern the identity of these black shadows before a bullet fired from the sky hit him in the head.
Amid panicked communication between the invading vehicles, all their weapons raised skyward.
The unit in black descended rapidly from the sky as if mocking their paltry response — the flying detachment from the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion dropped onto the roof of the skyscraper next to the side of the road and started firing from above.
Rifle bullets empowered with increased penetration fell like rain and pierced the bipedal tanks whose magic defenses had already been shredded.
Concentrated explosions from grenades also took out the wheels on the APCs and burning hot shrapnel ignited the fuel into an inferno.
It's not that the invaders offered no resistance on their part.
Heavy autocannon turrets fired along the wall and took down the flying soldiers peering through their firing spots.
Yet, the firepower from the unit in black never slackened.
Rolling flames danced across the rubble, but atop the perforated roof, the incoming shots only intensified.
The invading soldiers in the APCs and bipedal tanks now knew the terror of fighting undying monsters.
Immediately, they had the opportunity to witness this unique ability in action.
One of the flying soldiers crumpled and fell on the roadside.
He managed to avoid instant death thanks to the bulletproof properties of the pitch black armor, but that was undeniably a fatal injury.
At this time, an obsidian demon dual wielding two silver CADs descended next to his body. The one in his left hand pointed at that soldier and the soldier's wounds vanished.
The CAD in his right hand locked onto one of their bipedal tanks.
Noise suffused the machinery covered in armor, then the entire 3.5 meter tall mobile weapon faded into dust.
"...Mahesvara! [3] "
A terrified scream tore across the radio.
Some attempted to flee in terror while others chose to resist in horror. These two conflicting urges completely destroyed any semblance of order in the invasion force.
Amid the panic, the only ending that awaited them was eradication.
The bridge of the camouflaged amphibious vessel, also known as the command center of the invasion force, was covered by a solemn and heavy atmosphere.
"The mobile force was completely destroyed...?"
The tactician had just finished giving his full report to the CO who was staring at him, but he still fulfilled his duty as an advisor.
"Based on the reports we received, an aerial unit using Flying-Type Magic attacked and destroyed our entire force."
"..."
"...Also, there is an unconfirmed report..."
"Of what?"
"Communications from the mobile forces mentioned 'Mahesvara'."
"Did you say 'Mahesvara'!?"
Over half of the crew on the bridge widened their eyes so much that it was incredible none of them popped from their sockets.
"There were troops in the mobile force who participated in the battle 3 years ago."
"..."
"...Did something happen?"
One of the remaining staff members questioned the tactician who made the report rather than the commanding officer.
"—What a pack of lies!"
However, the one who replied was the CO himself.
Three years ago, an unidentified demon smashed them at Okinawa.
Among the soldiers who returned through prisoner exchange, none dared to utter that title.
The upper echelons of the Great Asian Alliance military officially denied his existence.
They forbade the soldiers from mentioning that name.
It was a nightmare better left buried.
Yet, no matter how they denied him with their lips, the nightmare had become reality and was baring its fangs at them.
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